“Lymelife” – A story centering around two dysfunctional families, lyme disease, war, and divorce, set in the 70’s. Stars Alec Baldwin, Timothy Hutton. Cynthia Nixon, and Emma Roberts. Opens April 8, 2009

“Observe and Report” – Seth Rogen is a mall cop that has his job put to the test when a streaker appears on the scene. Also stars Anna Farris and Ray Liotta. Opens April 10, 2009

“Crank 2” – Jason Statham returns as Chev Chelios. This time around his heart has been replaced with an artificial one and as in the last, he has to keep his energy up (which includes using a car battery and jumper cables). Also stars Amy Smart, Bai Ling, Dwight Yoakum, and Corey Haim. Opens April 17, 2009

“Angels & Demons” – Tom Hanks reprises his role as Robert Langdon and this time he’s out for the Illuminati. Opens May 15, 2009

“Land of the Lost” – Will Ferrell heads up the cast of this remake of the Seventies TV show. Opens June 5, 2009

“Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen” – No word on plot yet (if there is such a thing) but you can check out the trailer. Opens June 24, 2009

“I Love You, Beth Cooper” – The high school valedictorian pronounces his love for “Beth Cooper” (Hayden Panettiere) who takes it upon herself to show him the night of his life. Opens July 10, 2009

“The Taking of Pelham 1,2,3” – Remake of the 1974 film about a NYC subway train taken hostage. The criminals want a ransom, but how are they gonna get away with it? Stars Denzel Washington and John Travolta. Opens June 12, 2009

“Year One” – The history of mankind a la Harold Ramis, Jack Black, and Michael Cera. Opens June 19, 2009

“Funny People” – Adam Sandler is a comedian who finds out that he has cancer and takes fellow comedian Seth Rogen under his wing. Opens July 31, 2009

“Inglourious Basterds” – A woman who flees after watching her family murdered in German occupied France and a group of Jewish men targeting Nazis in acts of retribution converge in this upcoming Quentin Tarantino movie. Opens August 21, 2009

“The Descent 2” – The sequel to “The Descent” finds the one survivor making it out of the cave, but having to answer for what happened to the other members. A rescue crew is sent in to investigate. Coming soon!

For the uninitiated, “Hellboy” is a red demon with one hand larger than the other who lives among us, smokes cigars, loves TV, eats candy and uses gigantic guns to destroy other demons set to harm civilization. And, he will eventually bring about the destruction of the world, but for now he’s one of the good guys.

The story begins with Hellboy’s dad (played by John Hurt) reading him a story during Christmastime. Ages ago King Balor, who reigned over creatures of fantasy, was in war with the mankind. When 70 times 70 indestructible metallic monsters are made for his command and released upon mankind, much blood is spilt. Balor decides to make a truce with mankind: Balor and fantasy creature-kind would stay in the forests while mankind would have the rest of the world. His son, Prince Nuada, felt they had a bum deal and went into self-imposed exile.

Fast-forward to now. Nuada (Goss) is pissed-off and plans to wage a war against mankind. To do it he needs a crown (in three separate pieces) that gives a person of royal blood control of the “70×70” metal monsters and the map to the location. When he crashes an art auction and takes off with 2 of the pieces, Hellboy and Company are called in to find out what happened.

And saving the world from creatures of fantasy is the least of Hellboy’s problems. His relationship with Liz (Blair) is having problems and he doesn’t know it, but she’s pregnant. Agent Tom Manning (Tambor) is on Hellboy’s case for not keeping a “low profile.” Abe Sapien falls in love with Prince Nuada’s twin sister, Nuala. And the BPRD is under new management: Johann Krauss (voice of Seth McFarlane) who is a gas. Literally. He inhibits a suit with a glass dome for the head to walk around in, but he’s basically a gaseous state.

For what it’s worth, I liked this movie. Guillermo del Toro creates a fantasy world that the characters BELIEVE in; no looking at the camera with that “you know this is a movie, right?” look. And speaking of the characters… this is a TRUE fantasy movie. Yes, del Toro is a big fan of eyes located on body parts other than the face, but aside from that there are more creatures in this film than in the cantina on Tatooine.

My favorite scene is one in which Abe is lamenting on Princess Nuala and Hellboy is on the outs with Liz. They share a six-pack of beer while singing along to Barry Manilow’s “Can’t Smile Without You.” Hilarious scene.

Again, this is solid filmmaking from beginning to end. The story has a lot going on, from Prince Nuada exacting revenge to Abe falling in love to the relationship dynamic of Liz and Hellboy, as well as being under the new management of Johann Krauss.

Did I like this over the first “Hellboy” movie? I missed catching the first one in theatres and saw it on DVD, and liked it. I like this one as well. They’re like two different types of apples in the same bunch; it’s whatever works for ya (feel free to pick a different fruit or vegetable). I recommend this within the same breath as “Incredible Hulk” and “Iron Man.”